Digital Consumer Behavior Study

The majority of today’s consumers are actively personalizing their digital experiences and sampling niche content
and video with increasing frequency. That was the key finding in our first annual Avenue A | Razorfish Digital
Consumer Behavior Study.

Much has been said and written about how the Web 2.0 era has fundamentally changed the way consumers
interact online. But to what degree is today’s digital consumer really changing her online behavior?

A quick look at ComScore or Nielsen tells one story: millions of people are logging on to Facebook, Flickr,
YouTube and MySpace and the numbers are growing. We wanted to know if it was simply the leading the way
(and leading the hype), or has something more significant occurred?

Connected Consumers
In July 2007, Avenue A | Razorfish surveyed 475 U.S. consumers across all demographics and geographies
to understand their desires, frustrations and digital consumption habits. Our design research team was most
concerned with digital behavior rather then demographics. We wanted to know:

• How the broad populace of "connected consumers" discover things?

• How quickly do consumers adopt emerging technologies and user interface conventions (tag clouds,
social media, etc.)?
• What drives consumers’ desire to purchase (or not) online?
• How has video changed the digital landscape in recent years?
• Are mobile services being widely used (or not)?

Below is a detailed breakout of the situational questions we asked to consumers and their responses. As you
will see, we focused on four key areas of digital consumer behavior: Web 2.0 adoption, entertainment habits and
media consumption, eCommerce and mobile usage. Taken in sum, the responses paint an evolving picture of
digital behavior that is far more personalized, distributed and niche than we had previously thought.
 Web 2.0

Have you customized your homepage with specific con-

Personalization Hits the Mainstream tent feeds, scheduled updates or other features?
The answer, we’ve found, is that the majority of consumers are
increasingly personalizing their digital experiences and sampling a wide
range of digital niche content. From recommendation engines, to blogs,
to customized start pages, today’s connected consumer navigates a
personal landscape that is much more niche than we ever expected.
YES 59.87% 40.13% NO

Our survey found that personalization has hit the mainstream. As

illustrated in the graph above, the majority of consumers surveyed
(60%) personalize their home/start pages. This far exceeds the smaller
number of consumers that we previously believed to be such
active participants. Please rate the frequency in which you do
the following: Subscribe to RSS feeds
Further, 56% use RSS (really simple syndication), a technology that
enables users to subscribe to content feeds and read them via
specialized readers or on their customized start pages. RSS enables All the time 7.35%
consumers to keep up-to-date on news, sports or other information.
Most of the time 11.34%
Clearly this trend bodes well for the dominant portals and search engines Once in a while 37.18%
such as Google (35%), Yahoo! (24%), AOL (10%) and MSN (9%) which
account for the vast majority of consumers’ start pages. Never 44.12%

Survey Questions:
Have you customized your home page with specific content feeds, scheduled updates or other features?
40% No
60% Yes

Please rate the frequency in which you do the following: Share bookmarks with others e.g. del.icio.us.
6% All the time
11% Most of the time
47% Never
37% Once in a while

Please rate the frequency in which you do the following: Subscribe to RSS feeds.
7% All the time
11% Most of the time
44% Never
37% Once in a while

Please rate the frequency in which you do the following: Read most popular or most emailed links on websites.
13% All the time
26% Most of the time
18% Never
42% Once in a while

2
 Web 2.0

Please rate the frequency in which you do the following: Use tag clouds.
4% All the time
8% Most of the time
65% Never
23% Once in a while

Please rate how helpful you find the following: Bookmarks that help you organize or share webpages.
41% All the time
41% Most of the time
9% Never
10% Once in a while

Please rate how helpful you find the following: RSS Feeds.
14% All the time
38% Most of the time
23% Never
25% Once in a while

Please rate how helpful you find the following: Most popular or most emailed links on websites.
21% All the time
47% Most of the time
15% Never
18% Once in a while

Please rate how helpful you find the following: Tag clouds.
7% All the time
24% Most of the time
39% Never
29% Once in a while

3
 Media + Entertainment

Media & Entertainment Habits Shift How often do you read specific blogs?
The desire to personalize and sample niche content greatly impacts
consumer’s digital behavior across all industries and verticals. The effect
on traditional media and entertainment consumption habits is stunning. Monthly 8.19%
According to our survey, nearly 70% of consumers read blogs on a routine
basis, and 41% have their own blog or post frequently to blogs. In fact, Daily 28.99%

46% of consumers who responded to the survey read four or more blogs I do not read specific blogs 30.46%
on a regular basis
on a regular basis. All of that blog activity is significantly cutting into the
Weekly 32.35%
reach of traditional media outlets (newspapers, TV, magazines, etc.).

The trend toward niche content is similar for music and video consumption
as well. 67% of consumers watch videos on YouTube or similar sites on a
regular basis and 42% purchase music online. If anything, online video is
not only becoming more pervasive but also affecting offline consumption
in interesting ways. For example, 85% of consumers have watched a Do you write your own blog or
movie preview online before going to see the film at a theater. 58% of post to other blogs?
consumers have used a service to download (iTunes) or order (Netflix/
Blockbuster) films online, and 71% have watched a TV show online.

Most tellingly, 91% of consumers rely on the Web to get current YES 40.55% 59.45% NO
news or information, vastly eclipsing more traditional outlets such as
television. No wonder why broadcasters and newspaper publishers are
struggling to adapt in today’s digital realm.

Survey Questions:
Which of the following describes your online entertainment behavior?
I regularly purchase music online e.g. ITunes etc.
58% No
42% Yes

I regularly watch video on YouTube etc.

33% No
67% Yes

I regularly use photosharing sites e.g. Flickr etc.

59% No
41% Yes

I rely on the web to get current news or information more than I do the television.
9% No
91% Yes

None of the above.

100% No

How often do you read specific blogs?
29% Daily
30% I do not read specific blogs on a regular basis
8% Monthly
32% Weekly

4
 Media + Entertainment

Which of the following best describes how many blogs you read regularly?
1 5% 7 1%
2 18% 8 0%
3 16% 9 0%
4 7% 10 1%
5 8% More than 10 7%
6 5% (blank) 30%

Do you write your own blog or post to other blogs?

59% No
41% Yes

How often do you contribute to blogs either your own or others?
0% A couple times a year
9% Daily
4% Every couple of months
6% Monthly
21% Weekly
59% (blank)

Are you concerned about privacy when you post to social networking sites or blogs?
45% No
55% Yes

Thinking back to the last three months, please rate how often you have done the following: Watched an online video.
30% All the time
26% Most of the time
5% Never
39% Once in a while

Thinking back to the last three months, please rate how often you have done the following: Uploaded an online video.
5% All the time
8% Most of the time
51% Never
35% Once in a while

Thinking back to the last three months, please rate how often you have done the following: Watched online previews
before going to a movie.
18% All the time
28% Most of the time
15% Never
39% Once in a while

Thinking back to the last three months, please rate how often you have done the following: Watched a TV show online.
11% All the time
16% Most of the time
29% Never
45% Once in a while

Thinking back to the last three months, please rate how often you have done the following: Used an online service to
download or order movies.
14% All the time
14% Most of the time
42% Never
30% Once in a while

5
 eCommerce

Have you ever purchased an item as a result of a personalized

Retailers Face New Challenges recommendation e.g. Amazon making a recommendation
Personalization has had a similar effect on digital and multi-channel based on a past purchase?
retailers, as well. Consumers react positively to recommendation engines
and personalized services with their pocketbooks: 62% have made a
purchase based on personalized recommendations (e.g. Amazon.com)
and 72% find such services helpful.

However, our research indicates that the biggest shift for retailers is yet
to come, as their relationship with consumers appears to be increasingly YES 61.55% 38.45% NO
disintermediated. 54% of today’s connected consumers start their
shopping experience at a general search engine, such as Google, versus
30% who either visit the Web site of an established retail store (e.g. Crate
& Barrel) or a specific eCommerce site such as Amazon.com.

More surprisingly, 38% of consumers say that price is the most important
criteria in deciding where to purchase online although 38% of consumers
also indicate that a Web site that is known or respected helps sway them. Where would you most likely begin your Web search for this product?
Only 17% of consumers seek out a multi-channel retailer, such as Best
Buy, that has a prominent brick and mortar outpost.

Other 0.84%
I would use comparison shopping search engines
since I want to see the price up front 13.66%
I would visit the website of a known 14.92%
and established retail store
I would visit a specific eCommerce site that I frequent 14.92%
or that I think specializes in that type of product

I would use a general search engine 54.41%

to see what comes up

Survey Questions:
When you are in the market for a product that costs $100.00 or less what determines if you will use the web to help
make purchase decisions? Please select which answer best matches your behavior.
1% I never use the web when making purchasing decisions for items less than $100
17% I use the web if I think that prices will vary by retailer
18% I use the web if I want to compare products and features
5% I use the web if I want to locate retailers
20% I use the web to read online reviews and ratings of products or brands
39% I use the web to research products and features

Where would you most likely begin your web search for this product?
54% I would use a general search engine to see what comes up
14% I would use comparison shopping search engines since I want to see the price up front
15% I would visit a specific eCommerce site that I frequent or that I think specializes in that type of product
15% I would visit the website of a known and established retail store
1% Other
1% (blank)

When you are in the market for a product that costs $1000.00 or more what determines if you will use the web to help
research or review that product? Please select which answer best matches your behavior.
8% I never use the web when making purchasing decisions for items less than $1000
12% I use the web if I think that prices will vary by retailer
17% I use the web if I want to compare products and features
1% I use the web if I want to locate retailers
23% I use the web to read online reviews and ratings of products or brands
38% I use the web to research products and features

6
 Ecommerce

Where would you most likely begin your web search for this product?
45% I would use a general search engine to see what comes up
14% I would use comparison shopping search engines since I want to see the price up front
15% I would visit a specific eCommerce site that I frequent or that I think specializes in that type of product
15% I would visit the website of a known and established retail store
2% Other
8% (blank)

When you visit a specific eCommerce website do you usually go just to browse the specials, sales or new arrivals, or
do you visit with a product in mind that you are interested in?
45% Both
24% I usually go just to browse specials, sales and new arrivals
31% I usually go to see a specific product

Which best describes how you browse a specific eCommerce site for a product?
37% All of the above 12% By price
3% By bestsellers or most popular 30% By product type
6% By brand 5% By sales items
0% By color 5% Never browse, always use the search box
1% By new additions

When you want to research a product on the web which of the following do you rely on most for information?
22% Comparison charts
21% Expert reviews
1% Shared shopping lists
55% User reviews

Once you have decided on a product which of the following criteria is the most important in making a purchase decision?
38% Best price available
7% Best shipping and return policy
17% Website that also has a offline store e.g. BestBuy.com
38% Website that is known and respected

Have you ever purchased an item as a result of a personalized recommendation e.g. Amazon making a recommendation based on past purchases?
38% No 62% Yes

Do you find these types of personalized recommendations helpful to you?
28% No 72% Yes

Are you concerned about privacy when receiving personal product recommendations?
66% No 34% Yes

7
 Mobile

Mobile Usage Still Nascent Do you use your mobile phone to check weather, news or sports headlines?
While the adoption of Web 2.0 features has clearly entered the
mainstream, the usage of mobile data services certainly has not. Our
survey, released on the heels of Apple’s iPhone launch, finds the U.S.
Most of the time 9.24%
mobile data services market still nascent.
All the time 10.92%
Photography-related activities are the bright spot for mobile services. 53%
of consumers have taken and/or shared photos via mobile phones. Once and a while 15.76%

The outlook is not so bright, today, for other mobile multimedia Never 64.08%
usage. Only 32% have listened to music via their handset and 24% have
watched videos. And 37% have used mobile web services to check
weather, news or sports headlines.

Survey Questions:
Do you use your mobile phone to listen to music?
6% All the time
5% Most of the time
68% Never
20% Once in a while

Do you use your mobile phone to watch video?

4% All the time
3% Most of the time
76% Never
17% Once in a while

Do you use your mobile phone to check personal voicemail?

46% All the time
22% Most of the time
23% Never
10% Once in a while

Do you use your mobile phone to check email?

16% All the time
9% Most of the time
58% Never
17% Once in a while

Do you use your mobile phone to check weather, news or sports headlines?
11% All the time
9% Most of the time
64% Never
16% Once in a while

Do you use your mobile phone to take pictures and share them on the web?
12% All the time
12% Most of the time
47% Never
29% Once in a while

8
 What To Do Now
Given the sweeping changes in online consumer behavior, we recommend
that marketers and publishers take the following steps to create
exceptional experiences for today’s consumers:

1. Make Content Portable – Ride the personalization wave by making your content portable. RSS offers a great
means for users to subscribe to your content and get frequent updates. Widgets enable consumers to have
deeper and richer experiences with a Web site’s features and functions anywhere.

2. Enable Consumer Ratings and Reviews – Ensure that consumers can contribute and access peer reviews.
Retailers should enable consumers to rate and review products. Publishers should allow “commenting”
whenever possible.

3. Invest in Online Video – Online video is the next great growth wave in the industry. Make sure all video
assets become digitized and integrated with existing content and services. Look for near-term advances in
video advertising to help monetize the effort.

4. Think Beyond the Web site – Your Web site plays a much less central role in today’s consumer Web
experience. Think about how search, advertising, social media sites and the blogsphere are related to your
digital marketing efforts and invest appropriately.

5. Take Small Steps with Mobile – Mobile data usage is still nascent. Take a measured approach to investing and
keep an eye on Apple’s iPhone for near-term breakthroughs.

For the full Avenue A | Razorfish Digital Consumer Behavior Study please go to
http://design.avenuea-razorfish.com to download the PDF.

Avenue A | Razorfish Study Methodology: In July of 2007 we surveyed 475 consumers in the United States.
Respondents were screened based on broadband access, entertainment, social media and ecommerce habits. The
selected consumers were then asked a series of “situational” questions about their Internet behavior.